1 TEXAS Rifle Caliber?

What rifle caliber would get the most votes for an all round
Texas caliber?
East TX to West TX and way down south?
We don't have Grizzlies or Moose,
Our deer tend to be much smaller than the Kansas giants
Pigs do get past 300lbs but it's rare.
We do have lots of exotics, Nilgai are big.
With that being said, I'd argue against the NEED for anything stouter than the
30-06 in TX.
Shooters may prefer 300 win mags or 325s, 338s.
But is it really needed here?
My preference would be diff it was for Alaska and even moreso for Africa.

I like the classic 270 win
What says the forum for a single caliber Texas rifleman

Hard to argue with the 270. For me, it's the 25-06.

7 Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag for me. I would lean towards the 300 though just because we do have some pretty big exotics in Texas. Nothing that a 7 Mag wont kill, but a 300 can do it better.

7mm-08.

7mm-08 for sure

257wby

God, I hope nobody says 6.5 CM.

308 can and will kill anything in Texas.

Riding with Sapper on this one.

The classic 270 gets my vote. With the 308 a very close second.

I’m with you

I'd take the .30-.06 with a 150 gr. bullet and feel confident anywhere in TX.

.30-06 or .308

^^^^ this, and ammo for them is available most everywhere.

.270 is my go to. 25-06 would be my next pick.

30-06 or .270

300wsm. I've taken hogs and deer with it in Texas, would be great for elk, nilgai etc too.
Fairly flat shooting with my handloads and good knock down power. Not bad on recoil either.
Spouse's .270 served him well til we moved North.

This

30-06

I would say .270, if we didn’t have west Texas Aoudad and Nilgai down south.

Both I would want a .300 if I was regularly hunting them. The .270 is fine for aoudad but I like a little extra horsepower for the sand goats.

What my daughter would say. But then again after mule/WT deer, elk, aoudad, pigs, pronghorns etc, it would be hard to argue with her

7mm-08

Substantiating my thoughts with what my darling daughter thinks would be far down the list. The OP’s original assertion is spot on.

Oh and I killed a bear this year with her 6.5 CM. So we can add that to the list

30-06 was my all around caliber 150 grain deer 180 grain elk

Now I'm a 243 100 grain user!!! I hunt deer and hogs and haven't lost anything in the last 10 years

Have a brand new 30-06 in the safe that I'm planning on setting up for my first elk hunt, shooting 180 grain Accubonds.

Have killed more animals with a 243 than all other calibers combined. Ain't nothing wrong with a 243, it works.

On that note....I also have a brand new Tikka 243 in the safe that I'd like to make a 7mm-08. My Dad RIP was in the process of restoring & building me a 7mm-08 for Christmas YEARS ago before his number got called. I've never owned or shot a 7mm-08 in my life, but he sure did brag on it (he was a hobby gunsmith/reloader/collector).

I feel like I need a 7mm-08 in my life soon, may need to reach out to a few folks on here for advice to get it done.

JG, Judd, and others come to mind.....

Could have done that with a 243.

I hate that I feel like I'm cheating on my 243 or 25-06, but variety is the spice of life. Or so they say......

My 22-250 will be in the truck next weekend. Faithful gal.

Two ways to consider the question IMO. That is, what's most popular now and what's been popular through the years. While the 6.5 CM is perhaps the "hottest" in terms of current popularity, the 30-06 has a very longstanding reputation for filling the ice chests of Texas hunters.

Ironically, I passed up the 30-06 for a .270 as my first deer rifle and have never gotten around to buying one.

ditto

Me too. Got the .223, .243, 6.8, .308, 30-06... just missing the 7mm-08. Granted, there's some overlap in the stable, but who couldn't use a laser-beaming 7mm-08?

I am going to put together a 7mm-08 and hunt with it, but honestly I just don't see it outperforming my 25-06 for my current hunting purposes. Damn thing is a lazer beam and puts some big holes in critters if I do my part.

Always open to learn though. I've killed a lot of animals in my life, but have never taken a shot over 300 yrds. Almost all were under 175, most under 125.

Jason got me hooked on the 280AI - it’s my go to rifle, now. However, I love shooting my 7-08AI as well! 280AI is heavy, so if I’m doing a ton of walking, the 7-08AI is much lighter.

Was a 30-06 man before these two calibers, and I would never hesitate to use my old 30-06 anytime I needed to.

7-08. followed closely by the 6.5CM.

My favorite caliber is 300 win Mag. Use it for everything in texas. But I am very comfortable with the rifle and shoot it very well. These kinda dissussions are interesting. Some people have invested there entire self worth into what caliber they shoot.

I’d say the rifle design is more situational than the chambering. One cartridge isn’t a big deal, but one rifle certainly is.

243 for me

I really like the .270. My wife and kids got me one a few years back and It's all I use now. From 25 to 325 yards there is no need to adjust. Beyond that I have a tripod and custom turrets. Just hope I get a chance to shoot it this year.

I'm an awful big fan of the 7mm-08, so will have to cast my vote there.

That will pretty well cover all the native New World species and most exotics except hippo, and elephant. I don't know of any ranches that allow for rhino or giraffe hunting, but it probably would not be great for those either, but could work.

The guys over at 65Grendel.com have a running list of things killed with 6.5 Grendel (see updated list @ post 407 https://www.65grendel.com/forum/sho...ot-survey/page21&highlight=kill+list ). It includes all the native game of Texas plus a goodly bit of the exotics. I don't know that including exotics is valid because we could have just about any game animal in the world in Texas and so if you include exotics, then it really isn't a Texas thing, but a world thing. The Grendel list includes all the big North American game except grizzly, brown, polar bears and mountain goats (but they are in the range of deer, so should be no problem).

So, I would say most medium calibers would probably work just fine for Texas as well.

Make me choose only one thing to tote from now on. 7mm-08 is the answer. It does everything well.

But my pick for the masses is .308 Win

Millions of pieces of brass available. Always 30 cal bullets available. Chambered in bolt actions, and ARs and Savage 99's. It is "hardware store" ammo if need be. It will kill anything big enough to die, if you're close enough, and if you're a real shooter.

It can shoot past the thousand yard mark supersonic.

I would condidently hunt anything in this state with a 308 Win as long as I get to use handloaded ammo so I can adjust the bullet to the game.

20” CTR in .308 will do just nearly everything you’d like in one Texas gun. Heavy enough barrel to shoot strings, not too heavy to carry, threaded for brake or suppressor, can carry 10 rds, long enough mag to hold any bullet.

This. Plus you can shoot everything from 110s to 185s.

There are so many good choices quarter bore and above. Pick your favorite...including the 6.5 creedmoor.

My trusty 30.06

For the last 30 years, around the world, it has been my 7 Rem Mag with 160 gr Barnes TSX or TTSX

I'd pick the 270. I'm sure there are plenty of others that would work just fine too.

Another 7mm/08

I bought a .270 in 1977 and it is still my go to rifle. Have a 300-win mag and a .308 and would use the .270 all day long and twice on Tuesdays. It`s really what you feel the most comfortable using.

I think I have it covered with my TC 30-06 and my Browning Hells Canyon Long Range 308. They both shoot great. I just have more ammo for 308 so it's carried a little more often.

On a whitetail, you probably won't notice much of a difference.

Where it will shine is bigger than whitetail animals. I would shoot an elk with a 7mm-08 no issues, a .25-06 only if I had no other rifle available

I own a Remington pump in 30-06 that has been good to me for about 40 years now and I’d likely pick it up for anything in Texas. I might adjust the bullet weight and type depending on what animal I was hunting

.270 (130 grain) for Myself and .243 (100 Grain) for The Kiddo and wife. The .243 will Kill a lot of animals in Texas in the right hands. I have killed plenty of 125 lbs +Hogs with Dad's old Savage .243

30-06

Not just Texas. Adequate for anything in North America inside 200 yards.

7-08

Agree. I’ve killed too many larger than average white tails and big 200+ lb hogs with this set up for it to not be perfect for my needs in Texas. I have varmint hunted with it. It’s too accurate to not use it. One rifle, one caliber, CTR in .308.

Same. My favorite caliber.

.270 for me

I would have a say a 257 weatherby. The only thing I would feel undergunrd with in Texas would be nilgai, even so I would take it on a hunt and make it work if I had to. 120 grain nosler partitions have folders up 3 aoudad where they stood and caused carnage that I have never seen.

Should've been a poll.

2 7 0 would be my choice as well.

I use both the .270 and .308. If I had to choose one based on preference, I go with the .270. If I chose from an ammo availability standpoint, then the .308.

I also believe that there aught to be a state constitutional change requiring all merchants in the state of Texas to end their names with "& Ammo"

McDonalds & Ammo, Whataburger & Ammo, Starbucks & Ammo, Walmart & Ammo, Discount Tire & Ammo, Sport Clips & Ammo, H.E.B. & Ammo, Shipley's Donuts & Ammo, etc.

Of the cartridges I have I'd pick 308 Win.

308 Win

Depends on the trip/hunt there is no one gun or cartridge is good enough for everything. Can you get by with one sure. Now to answer your question

270 sendero 130 gr bullet for most everything while sitting and stand hunting

model seven 308 150 gr for most everything on scouting and tri pod hunts

300 yrds in Christenson arms 6.5 cm 140 gr or 129gr

7mm 0r 300 for anything bigger nilgai, elk, mule deer, rams

223, 204, 22 250 for prairie dog shooting and varmints

any caliber listed on shooting wild boar and add a 22

280 Rem

I love my .270.

270 Winchester is the top selling caliber in the US has been for years. Still is according to ammo manufacturing numbers. Texas is included in that number.
I know that 270 win is also Academy’s number 1 seller as well as virtually every large dealer in the state.

Surprised no one has mentioned the wonder of its day that delighted Theodore Roosevelt with its speed and incredibly flat trajectory. A friend in Shiner uses it in a TC Contender carbine with handloaded Barnes 110-grain TAC-TX bullets to switch off the lights in hog after hog with perfect satisfaction. It's a fine cast boolit caliber as well: the .30-30.

Could you sight the source for your statement of fact?

I was under the impression that .223 and .308 far, far outsold .270. I would also like to see the source for this.

False but nice try.

You won't because this is one of the more ridiculous statements I've heard stated here in a long time.

As much as I love my quarter bores, I will have to say .308 or 7.08

Which is saying something.

Whole lot of F.O.S. floats around.

I have most of the calibers mentioned here except the 308. No difference in it and the 30-06 re performance. The deer were dead or not recovered without respect to the cartridge. Nothing kills them deader. I hand load.

I have used and still own: 222, 223, 243, 30-30 and 30-06, 38-40 and some more that I don’t hunt with.

I'd like to see that as well, know it's one of the top sellers but didn't think it was #1, believe .308, .30-.30, .223 or possibly .30-.06 is but not sure.

308 for me.

Same here, though my shots are consistently <150 yards. If I had 300+ yard shots it would be a 7mm or 300 magnum.

300 Win Mag .... Will cover anything texas has to offer including eland, elk, and nilgai.

Really can’t go wrong with 308 or 270. Thinking I might have to snatch a 7mm-08 though from all the comments.

It was before and will always be the BIG 3. 270 30-06 or 308.

I believe the answer was in your orginal post... 30-06

Little dated (2015) but according to Chuck Hawks - my guess is 270 has not gained since than:

USA (Averaged 2015 sales rank)
1. 223 Remington
2.. 308 Winchester
3. .30-06 Springfield
4. .30-30 Winchester
5. .270 Winchester
6. .243 Winchester
7. 7mm Remington Magnum
8. .300 Winchester Magnum
9. 7.62x39mm Soviet
10. .22-250 Remington

Source:

https://chuckhawks.com/best_selling_rifle_cartridges.htm

And I bet 7.62X39 has moved up some places.

Gonna be a long time before .223 and .308 get unseated.

Caliber’s: .284/.308
Catridges: 300 WSM or 7mm Wby Magnum

Dang, I only have 3 of those. I better get to work.

280 being the unsung hero.

These damn threads

I don't understand why this has to be brought up every year. If you can afford to hunt multiple locations in Texas for multiple species...you can afford a second damn rifle.

Rifle Cartridge Popularity Ranked By Ammo Sales
In order

22LR
223 Remington
6.5 Creedmoor
300 Blackout (tied for fourth)
30-06 Springfield (tied for fourth)
300 Win Mag
6.5 PRC
308 Winchester
7mm Rem Mag
22-250
7mm-08

He also has them ranked several ways from most rifle chambering etc
https://backfire.tv/popular-cartridges/

Or just buy a 257wby

30-30 didn’t make the latest list.

I'm actually shocked by the positioning of a couple of those calibers.

Remember that’s ammo sales.

Blk out caught me off guard but it’s an AR platform caliber so it makes sense since ranking is based off ammo sales.. it’s bulk buy like 223 or 22LR, And bulk trigger pull mag dump like 223.

Roger that. No surprises with the .22s or the BO, but the 6.5 PRC being that high is shocking to me. That, and I expected .308 to be way higher as well. Makes me wonder what effect reloading/reloaders have on that list? Maybe that's why .308 is so low...after the 2008 and later ridiculousness of .308 shortages, maybe lots of folks started reloading .308, or moving away from the .308 platform? I expected .30-06 to be lower as well, and .270 isn't even in the top 10? What in Hades is this world coming to?

.308 (and 7mm-08 too) is obviously way more popular here on THF.

I really don’t put much stock in Backfire TV and his secret sources, I watched a few of his videos and found him ridiculous.

.270 has been/is big in TX, wonder if so much in other states, maybe not.

All this arguing over rifle calibers, y’all need to put your faith in a 450 grain arrow flying 280 fps tipped with a sharp broadhead.

IDK about sales but ive killed a S pile w 223 and 22-250 here in the homeland

No need for to go big here, unless you just want too...although ive got this itch for a 7mm Hells Canyon myself...

Been itching for weeks just hoping it would pass, lol but it hasn't

He is annoying but he did pretty good research on this one.

Custom rifle chambering was no surprise

6.5 PRC
300 PRC
28 Nosler
6.5 Creedmoor
300 Win Mag
7mm Rem Mag
7 SAUM
300 RUM
6 Creedmoor
300 WSM

That chart is based off ammo sales. Most 270 shooter probably go through a box every 5 -10 years. I haven’t shot my 270 probably in a decade.

This list is a little deceptive because it’s only two qtrs of data

Bolt-Action Rifle Cartridge Popularity (Ranked by USA Rifle Sales)

This data comes from rifles sold in the USA during Q4 of 2021 and Q1 of 2022.


6.5 Creedmoor
22LR
6.5 PRC
30-06 Springfield
300 Win Mag
308 Winchester
6.8 Western
7mm Rem Mag
7mm-08

Anything from .223 to .300 mag.

Have yet to see a caliber that will kill them deader than my 6.5 CM or my kids 7mm08 which are fun to shoot.

Nor will these calibers kill them any deader than a .243.

There is no wrong answer.


Those that believe you need a 300 mag for Texas sized white tails are over compensating………….

If going after Nilgai, Aoudad, or other similar game I would consider one of the mag rounds.

Funny you say that...I'm still on the same box of Hornady that I was 10 years ago.

I shot a doe with my .270 year before last and a Coyote earlier this year (because that was the gun I had in the truck) but haven't hunted with it in earnest since I took it to Colorado in October 2015.

Damn Skippy!

It is the caliber that gets a ride to the stand more often than not with me.

Mine is sighted in with a 130 Serria Gamekings by PMC. So that box is probably late 90’s

My 270 is my loaner gun. Been on the same box of 20 hand loads since 2013. Other than to the blind and back it has t left the gun rack in the camp house since then either. In that last box I think 5 people have killed deer with it, two cousins, my wife, a friend, and myself. Wife got a doe with it this weekend 2 bullets left in the box.

I think more hunters are in love with the rifle rather than the caliber it’s chambered in.

For me, my .270 is a mid 90’s Ruger topped with a redfield 3x9. Very accurate rifle but I pretty much stopped hunting with it when I got a sexier rifle and and a clearer higher magnification scope, not because I got a better caliber.

A lot of hunters have upgraded rifles over the years and stopped shooting the .270’s and .30-06’s chambered in 700 BDL’s and Model 70’s

When hunters are tell others “I love my 6.5 cm” many are really saying “ I love my new modern rifle with a clear, bright, high magnification scope.

Agree, X100

I agree there's some truth to that. If my Model 70 270 wouldn't have gotten stolen 25 yrs ago, it would probably still be my go-to. All animals taken with that rifle were one shot kills, but then I bought an old ugly used Savage 243 that does the same thing.

The 6.5 Creed fad is the biggest fad that I've ever witnessed in my life, and for that reason alone I've never gotten on board....but that's me.

Hudbone will label this post as being sensible.

I have a friend who says that.
A. He's much younger than I am.
B. He didn't grow up hunting.

He's finding his way and will be a great hunter.

I like the older stuff. Fine with me if the youngsters go after the new-fangled stuff and leave the dinosaur ammo for us old farts.

It's happened before but most here are too young to realize it. The 30-30/Winchester 94 is a good example. For a period in time 8 out of 10 whitetail hunters used one.

Then came the .30/06 and then .270. Then came the 7mm Remington mag in the 1960's.....lots and lots of western hunters shot 7mm's.

I remember in the early 2000's every hunter had to have a .300 WSM and it was one of the most common calibers in camp. Now you can hardly find ammo on the shelves for them.


Common denominator is that in most cases, the RIFLES chambered in these rounds were an improvement over what hunters were trading it. No longer did the hunter have to carry his heavy and long barreled Model 73 or 1886,, he got a slim and light Model 94 that packed a punch ( by 19th century standards ). After that the hunter could buy a Bolt action Model 54 in a .270 with a Lyman peep and kill deer at twice the range as his old saddle carbine. The 1960's-1970's hunter could upgrade to a shiny new model 700 in 7mm mag with a nice Leupold on top, and leave his older Model 54 in the safe. You can see the cycle and we are in an ever-evolving state of hunting weapons.

I remember the short magnum and SUPER-short magnum craze.

You CMDRS sufferers shouldn't be butthurt because the 6.5CM is a better mousetrap.

Ok I’m slow what’s CMDRS

did you just make that term up sir?

Creedmore Derangement Syndrome - The Sand Aggie is just a lil' put off because he successfully utilizes the newly coveted GayMore. Being concerned with how others think, he doesn't want to be thought of as going for a fad.

The Fade left after year 1, we are now on year 15.

Hornady did a very good job on ammo consistency, essentially you could buy competition ready ammo off the self. It’s an efficient cartridge that made a lot of rifle builders look awesome . 7-08 has much wider range of bullets available so it appeals more to handloaders.

Love or hate the 6.5 CM it’s a mild recoiling round that’s normally very consistent on ammo performance

Meh, I almost bought a CM once......but when I was looking for 6.5 CM ammo on line, all these ads of man bun wearing men kept popping up selling beard wax and designer jeans. I just couldn't do it. In all seriousness, I don't care what other people shoot and don't care what other people think. It's just a little good old fashioned ribbin'.

Yes, the damn thing works. I don't know why the hate. As I've said before, I bet WWII vets said, in 1952, the .308 Winchester was going to just be a fad. It's a 71 year old fad now.

I took a call an hour ago. The guy had a 6.5 Creedmoor built, and has been shooting Hornady ammo. He's ran it out to 1000 yards, but the ammo is now not up to what he's wanting. So, the rifle is coming to me. And he will end up rolling his own later this year, based off whatever recipe I come up with. I told him his barrel will be done in 2500 rounds. He said what I say "ok, I'll have another barrel put on and keep going."

Wait , you don’t use beard wax? Ol’son!!


Let’s be honest, Zeus only game mortals one weapon, the 257Wby.

I know plenty of men over 60 years old that went to the 6.5 Creedmoor. And it's their favorite cartridge of their lives.

My dad in his 80’s and switched from 270 to 6.5CM. Recoil is more tolerant for him. As long as I don’t have to track I don’t care what he shoots.

270 and/or 308

I shoot 270 and wife shoots 30/06. If I could only pick one it would be the 30/06.

Makes you wonder why it or something similar didn’t take root 50 or 60 years ago, because there is nothing cutting edge about a 140 grain bullet flying at 2700 fps.

I would be a large part of it would be todays media marketing, social media and Internet forums and information availability.

Media of yesteryear was controlled and you were only allowed to see and read what the advertisers and publications wanted you to.

50 years ago most rifles and components where minute of deer. You buy a box of Remington corelokts and hope they are atleast with in 6” of the old box. I also think a lot of them finally got over the big magnum or big caliber ego.

You can buy rifles off the shelf today that are as accurate as many target rifles of 50 years ago. Ammo has gotten better especially if you reload. Scopes have made a huge difference. With all of that plus the internet and information, ballistic apps etc. More people ate shooting longer range than ever.

There is nothing IMO the Creedmore cartridges can do that the 130 year old 6.5×55 cannot do but does take a grain or 2 more powder than todays darling.

For best Texas rifle 270, 280 and 30-06 doesn't matter all as well as many others will do the Job.

Heck look at what all game was almost lost to market and subsistance hunting with lead bullets and black powder.

It is not marketing, it is not hype.

It is good ammo support. Remington could have done the exact same thing with the .260 Remington, but they screwed it up, which was normal for them. Remington did not load a 140 gr going 2700 fps, and they did not offer multiple choices of bullet weights. I have hand loaded the .260 Rem, and the 6.5 Creedmoor thousands of rounds for both. The ending ballistics, out of a 24" barrel has been 2770-2800 fps MV, with a 140 gr bullet. The .260 Rem requires one more grain of H-4350, than the 6.5 Creedmoor, to achieve those speeds. The 6.5 Creedmoor case geometry is obviously more efficient. But the major point is, the .260 Rem was and is very capable of the same external ballistics. But people could not get ammo even close to the availability of the 6.5 Creedmoor, so the cartridge never took off.

The .308 Win was wildcatted into the .243 Win (6mm), .260 Rem (6.5mm) 7mm-08 Rem and .338 Fed.

The 6.5 Creedmoor has been wildcatted into the 6mm Creedmoor,.22 Creedmoor, and 257 Creedmoor. It works better than the .308 based cartridges as far as internal ballistics are concerned. And, in the last few years we have learned of the greatness of a small rifle primer inside a .470" bolt face, and seat a small rifle magnum primer. Annealing the case necks means the brass life exceeds 10 firings in many cases. And the Creedmoor based brass is available in small rifle primer or large rifle primer.

The Creedmoor is here to stay for a long time. Again, the damn thing works.

100% agree. These are facts.

18 years ago I was impressed that three of us were able to bounce a Coke can at 350 yards with a .22-250. The same three guys have now well exceeded thousand yard hits, at will. My personal farthest consecutive hits are 2180 yards as of right now. One of the other guys in the story competed in the King of 2 Miles for a few years and finished in the top 10%.

Technology improved and we embraced it. Information has been shared and we learned it.

No doubt Hornady got it right. I don’t believe if Remington had done the same with the 260 it would have taken off like the 6.5 creedmoor did though. Advancements in optics, particularly repeatable dialing exposed turrets becoming mainstream opened up a market segment that previously was relegated to only serious shooters. Now there are multiple creedmoor equipped snipers at every range.

As for the one texas rifle question, a 30-06 will do it.

I think it has a lot to do with demand. Producers make what people want. There are a lot more people interested in shooting 1,000 yards today it seems like than decades ago.

But that seems odd since there are so few 1000 yard rifle ranges.

Well they did have something just like that 50-60 years ago, the 6.5x55, 308, 300 Savage and the 7x57. not to forget the many attempts at similar cartridges, the 260 Remington or the dumped 257 Roberts. The big four were for many years the 243, 308, 270 and 30-06. The current media is the most controlled of all time.

22-250 - great for deer and turkey

I don’t even own one but I feel like a .300WM is the best do it all out there, you can run lighter 150-168grain stuff or 200+ it’s just a great round for doing anything in Texas. Short range, Long range, medium sized game or big game. All bases covered, ammo everywhere, .30 Cal killing power I dunno a big thirty is hard to beat.

The .300 Winchester magnum, also known as the Lord’s Caliber, is the best do-all caliber

But don’t try and convince anyone who doesent own one of that.

.270

Pref a pre-64 Model 70 : )

I normally dont comment on the 6.5 Creedmore fad and this may of allready been mentioned but having the 8 twist riflings is what gave it a edge over my 260 and several others i have
which are 9 or so rate of twist. I allready own a 260 so i did not need a 6.5 Creedmore but if the Creedmore had of been out when i was in the market for a 6.5 caliber i would of prefered an 8 twist over a 9. The 8 twist gives it the ability to fire a longer bullet and the longer the bullet the higher the Ballistic Coefficient which simple put is the bullets ability to overcome resistance in flight and that small change killed the popularity of the 260 and the 6.5 Creedmore fit in better with the long range crowd. My choice was 7mm-08 if i only had to pick one caliber for several reasons but thats just me. Im sitting in a hospital room with a wife that just had surgery hence the time to comment. I cant argue with any caliber mentioned if the bullet was well placed.

I have never heard any caliber called the Lord’s caliber. Certainly not a 300 Win Mag. I know you probably got carried away a little with your zeal for it.

300 Win Mag for the big stuff but certainly not needed or ideal for medium game.

I've shot about 20 different rifles chambered in it. Do not own one, and probably never will.

From now on the 300 Win Mag shall be known as the 300 Jesus Christ! I like the sound of that!

Not related to the op but i love to talk about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it is a fact what he did for me some 2000 years ago on the Cross at Calvery. I give Him Praise for Salvation full and free,

Not needed for medium game, I’ll agree. But it’s better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

It shines where you are afield in an area where you may encounter game from 100 lbs all the way up to over 1000 lbs, which is the case in many areas, but not a common scenario here in Texas.

For a do-all for non-dangerous game, I just don’t see there being a better combination of bullet selection, ammo availability, shootability, and knockdown power than a .300 win mag.

300wm is plenty of gun for 95% of the animals on the planet, but some of the other 5% lives in Texas, even if they are considered hunted feral livestock. If I were planning to hunt bison, cape buffalo, zebras, or nilghai, I might consider a 375 or 338. If I were planning on hunting everything but that, I would consider a 30-06 or 270. 300 WM might be the best compromise, but if you are a dentist hunting zebras in Texas, you probably have more than one rifle.

The same holds true for the 300 WSM, 300 PRC, 30 Nosler, 28 Nosler, 7 Rem Mag, 7 PRC, and I probably left out some.

But, for today, where the 300 Win Mag has the edge is the availability of brass. It has been around a long time, so there's brass typically available. But the same can be said for the 7 Rem Mag.

There's more 30 cal bullet choices. But in 7mm, there's more than plenty for what I need to do the same jobs you mentioned.

This thread convinced me I need more than one to hunt all of Texas.

Is ammo commonly available to a non-handloader in .300 PRC, 28 nosler, or the 30nosler?

I see some .300 prc on our local ammo shelves but not much on the others.

If your driving it’s a non-issue but with the way our wonderful airlines work if your flying you have to factor in the possibility your ammo may not arrive with your rifle and will have to procure it from a local source. .300 win mag is probsbly the most common magnum round available. Sole reason I had my Mark V chambered in .300 win instead of .300 wby, which is bordering on blasphemy but ammo availability was a major concern

As far as capability any of the above mentioned is certainly adequate

I don't consider ammo availability. Many need to, but I don't.

Same doesn't hold true for any of those mentioned. Only 7 mag has the ammo availability. I have a 7 mag i built, pretty fond of it out to a mile but i'd take the 300.
Been rolling my own long before you were breathing air so we agree on not worring about ammo availability but it is one of his drivers in his question.

i hunt W Texas Mule/whitetail and use a 270 or my fav 7MM mag but my next gun will be a 25-06

What ammo you use on Mule deer with your 7mm Mag?

I've been really wanting a 25-06 in the arsenal for awhile now. When I think of Texas I think of 25-06 and 243.

Gotta be 30-06 right? I mean generally speaking

270, 308 or 30-06. Any of these should do the job and ammo for them can be found most anywhere.

If I had to have one rifle for TX it would be the .270......... (and .308 would be #2)

270 or 30.06

You know... it looks like a "Texas All Around" rifle would be a Win 308 or 7.08...I have 5 308s after shooting 270 and 300 HH for years. Guess when you get past 70, you just want a good rifle to get the job done and not kick you! Seriously, there are so many good calibers today and so many good quality bullets, I just like to shoot the one that I enjoy and puts the animal down quickly. Great thread and good information.

Any mid-range caliber is good. i've heard in the past that there's more game harvested with a .270 than any other caliber....i don't know if this is still or ever was true. in all truthfulness i think a well loaded 3006 could/has done just about everything in north america although it gets passed over a lot more in favor of newer flashier choices. not too big for texas game and big enough for just about anywhere else. there's not all that much difference between a .270 and a .3006. 06 just has some heftier bullet options.

i sure hope nosler partition bullets aren't a thing of the past. for reloading haven't been able to find them much. no matter what caliber you shoot...i'm of the opinion that a partition is about the best hunting round you could fire thru it.

.264 CM. Ha.

Plain and simple, it's not a 300 WM. This season was spent taking my 22 250 and 300 out with me. I'd prefer a single weapon.

Cannot wait for the suppressor stamp to get approved and issued so my cut down 270 becomes the norm again.

I own a .223, 6mm, .270 and .280....all of them are bolt action and I have killed deer and other critters with all of them. The most kills have come with the .270 by a large margin and I still hunt with it. Killed everything from predators to hogs to aoudads to oryx to axis to red stag in NZ to mule deer in Alberta and Trans Pecos to whitetails all over the state. Last few years have gone to my .280 made by Rifles, Inc. Can't comment on other calibers I don't own but what I have has served me well. All calibers listed above in post are personal favorites since those people own those rifles. They would not own one it if they didn't like it.

308 Win is my favorite, but I also like the 7mm-08, .243, and .223 (with a 75-grain bullet). I guess I like the short actions because they're easier to mount scopes on (with the proper eye relief) and you can make quick follow-up shots with a bolt action.

But ultimately it comes down to whatever you're the most comfortable and capable with. And it also helps when it's easier to find ammo.

many cartridges will do just fine, but I'll cast my vote for 7mm-08.

wide selection of bullets for the handloader, ample for anything in TX, and very manageable recoil.

Do what?

He must talking about true short actions that are 1/2” shorter and don’t have pic rails. On something like a Ruger 77 or a CZ 550, there are optics mounting points on the receiver. Long actions are spaced 1/2” longer so it can limit how much you can push the optic back without hitting the scope bell.

I'm in agreement with this. I spent most of my years hunting out west with a 300WM and back in Texas with an old 25-06 that I still use every year......... but I really like the 6.5CM. I can find quality ammo at a decent price and it will kill anything I hunt with a properly placed round. Here's a photo from several years back. I kept my hat on to hide the man bun.

Put a pic rail on EVERY bolt action. Several problems are solved.

You and your picatinny rails and reticles with more than 2 lines, , way too modern for some of us.

It's easier.

In gun terms, you are a metro-sexual.

We should start arguing Mil reticles vs duplex and get the thread locked.

Cool

Where would you like to play HORSE, shooting for cash?

Is that a low wall?

I wouldn’t mind having a single shot Low wall or Ruger No.1 in 6.5cm

I bow to your prowess. I prefer to compete on the fields where I am strongest and I could never accept myself were I to lose to a metro-sexual.

You are what shooters call a Barney.

"I can hit a deer in the vitals at 300 yards with muh 270 any time, if I do my part."

Whatever

Barney sounds good here. I'll take that as a complement. Thank you. I do bow to your prowess on here - was not an exaggeration (not much of one). The pic rail thing is just something I need to get used to. They only seem to make sense.

270/308

Can't get eye relief right, pic rail fixes that.

Scope rings aren't aligned, pic rail (usually) fixes that.

Scope bases came loose, pic rail fixes that (over other part available)

Want to move Scope and rings between rifles, need a pic rail.

Quality, U.S. made, anodized light weight aluminum are under $40. So it's not like they are expensive.

In scope type, base and ring type I'm just pointing people to the solutions to prevent or remove frustrations. I don't get a dime from optics companies or base and ring companies. I just know what works, and share that.

I prefer pic rails but not on my Elmer Fudd rifles. I like to preserve the Fudd vibe.

It’s a high wall. Fun to shoot and very accurate. I’ve killed lots of animals with it.

those pictures must be from Australia

I have started transitioning over to the pic rail when I have to update a scope, add a rifle, etc.

Everytime I try to post a photo from my phone it's never oriented like it is on the phone.

.270

I have no idea what's "best", but I like my new .300 Win. Mag. I added a recoil suppressor, of course, so kick is not a problem. Two WT does this year with high shoulder shots and DRT. Meat damage was not worse than 7MM, .257 or ,243. In fact, just blew through each deer with less damage than I've seen with other smaller calibers. May have been ammo or shot placement, though.

EDIT: and, of course, it does a number on coyotes, but I always feel like I'm wasting money when I use it to shoot at coyotes. Problem is, we have a feedlot nearby, and, thus, an endless supply of coyotes. Shoot 30 in a year and 60 more will move in and feast on the dead pile. (BTW, please don't ask for permission to come hunt yotes, I've already got more local guys participating in coyote hunt competitions than I can allow.) Much happier shooting the .223 at coyotes. Not burning as much money per round, hopefully.

The wildcat 7.08

I feel like this thread is more of a what do you shoot versus what be #1

It has not been a wildcat for a very long time.

Elkhunter, are you serious about the misaligned pics. You post so many pics. I think theres more than one way to post pics from phone but the way I do it theres a clear option of rotating the photo right before you hit "all done".

Be careful of any "free" advice on technology

I’ll go with Jack O’Connor; 270 all the way.

These threads always turn out that way...

You well never be able to help the poorly uneducated trifling thought process of the lessor hunters that cant embrace the 257wby has the choose cartridge of Zeus

But you will always hear from the Kool-aid drinkers^^^^^^^

lol, that was good!! 5pts for sure

Killed another mule deer this year… click.. boom… flop

But with the big 7mm?

My favorite is a .257 Roberts. I have two.

But the last center fire rifle that I would ever sell is my 760 in 30-06

Well I don’t like to argue so I try to own at least one of each. Lol
With that said my all time favorite, if I do my part it’s never let me down, 257 Roberts. Varmints to Deer it gets the job done!
Next favorite is 270 Winchester.

not this year. Ironically I did try, but missed. so grab 257 incase the 28 was off. dumped Mulie at 300

28 wasnt off but I'm still not sure how I missed. I was laying down on bipod, I did dial but it was only 310. 99.9% I sailed it high.

first rifle miss in along time.

So, your 1st choice was the 28. Correct?

its new and shinny.

That dang Vortex

Most of the animals at my property are between 300 and 1200lbs so its big bore for me now. Got free ranging Elk, Reds, Hogs…

crossed my mind

Did anyone say 3006? Cause if you didn't you are probably gay

6.5 Creedmoor is KING!!!



Already partial to my .270 but probably .280 Win I roll my own and the bullet choices are a bit better than my .277

I change my pix to 30-0six

I have hunted with mostly 308 round but I also had good success with 3006 and 6.8 Rifle rounds.

It all depends on location in Texas. I had hunted a little and owned a couple rifles back then, usually one at a time. In the mid early '70's we moved home to Dallas from Chicago, I got a job with one of the largest wholesalers of any kind in Texas who wanted me to concentrate initially only on fishing tackle 1st, then guns and a 2nd in house branch of 3 brands of lawn mowers that was was using it's own Sales group.

The Schoelkopf Company of Dallas had been a fixture in sporting goods, farm products from windmills to you name it and many other things in Texas since before the turn of the century when 3 German brothers came to Dallas who were strong manufacturers of leather farm & ranch products in 1854. Some time in the early '60's had been bought out by a SBIT aka the LaSalle Street Small Business Investment Trust, based in Chicago. The SBIT bought business's like the Milwaukee Braves Baseball Team , and sold it to to the guy who owned Lowes and it became the Atlanta Braves.

The Lasalle St SBIT also bought 3 commercial & sporting goods companies in the Pacific N'west & had just sold them when I was hired, and bought Ellett Bros, in Chapin North Carolina with trained women reps working the phones selling to dealers in 10 states and the largest phone bill of any commercial business in the Sporting Goods Industry and almost bigger than the Pentagon's phone bill, and move my base of operation to Denver Berns Wholesale in Denver, umm probably the largest outdoor product retailer in the Mountain West.

All of this occurred over a fairly short period of about 8-10 years. The Schoellkopf Family is still widely known in Dallas. The location I went to work for was in Carrollton around the corner from the Ford Plant on Belt Line with 4 rail car loading ports, instead of the 6 loading ports in the original building downtown, where the city of Dallas has built a coliseum & torn it down and a huge multi story parking garage and City Hall and the new Police Station.

I was one of 6 outside sales reps hired and assigned different parts of the State, at first North Texas from Dallas to the Red River with stiff well known local competition from old time wholesalers plus I won the battle in house to get all of east Texas and eventually all of southeast Texas too , from Beaumont to west of Houston where those local distributor companies were weakest and served from elsewhere.

When Schoellkopf Dallas was closed is when I went to Stoeger Industries in New Jersey to rep Sako and their other products in more than just 5 states.

Would I do this again ....probably but I'd hire local reps on my own and chase more manufacturers, and take the better new product lines when the opportunity was presented ...like the handgun line from Atlanta I am still beating myself up over not taking when offered as a sure winner.
Ron

After the animals I’ve seen on my remote Hill Country property, I’d say again “big bore” because some of the free rangers I have are up to 1,200 lbs.

I have Elk, Red deer, maybe a hybrid, Sitka, Sika, Mule deer, Axis, Fallow, Whitetail, Hogs, show hogs, Black Bear, Aoudad, Big Horn, and Cougar big game wise. I was astonished initially and still am all the time.

I had to raise all of my hanging feeders because of elk.

I think you could get by with a 30-06 or something like that. You never know whats gonna pop out these days.

Even in Florida my kin folk should be carrying a 45/70 to check the mail with the bears, hogs, and pythons.

What animal do you have that is 1200 lbs? A wandering Brangus bull?

Also interested in hearing about the blacktail deer you have seen

.30-.06 in 150/185 grain, plenty of punch power to take out any indegenous TX animal with no issues, as well as most if not all exotics too...

Something like that on the heavy beast. I don’t know where all these funky deer species come from but they seem to be thriving all the way up to around 2,400ft. Seem to thrive like the Pinion pines, pure spring water, and Lacy Oaks.

Tridents, just moved from Houston to west of San Antonio and we can’t grow a garden. We can’t run um off. Front yard the last two weeks ac7b7ba3_070d_4c8b_8657_7d0a757f421a.jpeg[/img]


They call um black buck. Dang, worse than squirrels 🐿️

Looks like a good problem to have to me. As for the garden, just high fence it. Unless you're growing my grandparents' kind of garden, cost should be pretty reasonable.

Nice buck!

I've killed more animals with my Walmart special Savage 110 .243. Granted I don't hunt as much now as I did as a teenager, but that rifle never failed me. Killed a lot of deer and turkey in Coke County with that rifle.

Interesting thoughts.. My go to Texas rig is a 1972 Remington 700 BDLin 22/250. This has served me well for many many years and see no reason to change.

Jim

6.5CM what??? nobody votes anymore for the CM? Now we can look at the new Mo Bettah CM CPR, even though I'd already bought a TC Creedmore for cheap at Atwoods . Anybody seen a CM CPR rifle?? or shot one?

Any body seen a rifle in CPR ? Academy in Tyler dinnit have no CPR rifles in stock & I saw the plenty of ammo the other day when I bought a new Hornady Load book at Academy in Tyler. Hornady sez it go's enough Mo Faster to earn a place long term in rifle sales volume, so ya'll need to pay attention to it....I still own a little over 1100 6.5 bullets now that I am not gonna shoot the Tikka 6.5 Swede & the H Book sez the new cartridge is gonna chase all the other tried and true medium shooters outta town....kinda like th 7-08 has.

I've been shooting a 270 for longer than I can say, .... I'm turning 79 years old this fall, if I last that long ....and a 270 gives me 99% of all my needs...but I also like some other stuff for special occasions, and favor 300wmg over 30'06. I've had several favorites over the years, after starting with a 243. Used a 257 Rbt's for anything under 200 yards until I shot the barrel out. Earlier I bought a Ruger 77 in 25'06 starting about 50 years ago when we came home to Dallas from Jax for Christmas & Schoellkopf had just received a shipment of the 1st 25'06's in Texas ....made some $'s at $2 a crow with it shooting in a Florida HWY PATROL's father's Pecan Grove.

Always liked 7Rmg's ...the 10 pt'er Muley over my head came from one of Mr Carter's hunts and took it one shot after my hunting partner missed his shot as the big WT hauled it out of a creek bottom ,. I even downloaded a 7Rmg to to 280 speeds for a time when my shoulder was healing after a major surgery and was happy with the results, even have used a 9.3x62 on a big White Tail one time on the School Lease Property hunting with Crazy Horse just to show him how well the take down is at long ranges.

Was invited to go to Finland in '83 for a Plant tour & Moose Hunt when management found out I had won a 10 day trip to England from Holiday Inn that could be coordinated with their annual Moose Hunt & Company Management Meeting.

Most fun I ever had was shooting at the underground target range & qualifying for a Finnish Hunting License. I learned how to over come some of my bad habits, and was told it's not the caliber or the bullet that is not accurate, but some bad habits most of the time within a range of bullet speed, design and weight. I learned a couple things about my own bad habits and did qualify shooting at a moving paper "Moose" that has score rings. In Finland you MUST score a certain score or better or you don't get a Hunting License to go on the Hunt ....the Finnish Army Officer who was guarding a special guest the Russians had already tried to "eliminate" 3 times in broad daylight in England, shot 90+ % 3 times with a Army Issue handgun and freehanded in half the time allowed. All this takes place at 100 meters and from an Offhand standing position
Ron

This thread is timely for me as I am looking forward to hunting again after all the "fun & games" I've had with the Shingles and it's related side issues is about to finally come to an every day average status, if that's possible, in time to think about hunting again.

I have a couple of 270's that could/will fill the bill for more than just an average Texas WT or EXO hunt. I also have a NIB TC CM 6.5 to play with and learn what all the hoorah is about, and a WW Model 70 7x57 FWT I'd like to make meat with before I pass it along. I also feel like I need to get another long range shooter in 7Rmg or 300Wmg again, on the off chance of winning/finding a hunt where I could benefit from using one of these LR calibers again.
Ron

For me a 308 Win. If I go back to my native CO after elk I use my old 7mm Rem Mag.

308 and 45 - the Lords Calibers.

I guess my favorite caliber for deer in Texas is the 25-06. There are many rounds that will do everything that this round will do but I've owned at least 2 25-06 for nearly fifty years now. Pick a caliber and learn to shoot that rifle well and I'm sure you will have a new favorite cartridge as well. Let's go hunting fellas

i want to chime in too, 308 is my vote.

I’d have a hard time picking from .25-06, .270, or .308. Have had great success with all 3.

a really really big bull elk is 800lb

I’ve killed every thing(minus sitka blk tail) on your list or seen killed with less then 130gr bullet. 90% of that list I’ve personally killed with 115gr bullet including a few elk.

dont over think it it. send it

Dialing, just one more thing that can go wrong.....

Yup
308 is my go to caliber 95% of the time.

There are many, many great calibers out there but it is very hard to beat the 308 especially on deer & hogs

308

With a Vortex scope, yes.

I have everything in my arsenal from a 22-250 to a 7mm mag, but my go to from the being is the old 270. However, I just picked two Tikka T3’s in a 308 and 30-06 that need to be field tested. 😁

They will be fine. I have three, a CTR in .308, a Roughtek in 7mm Rem Mag and a 6.5 Creedmoor in the T3.

If you want to turn your T3's into really great hunting rifles, invest in a Bell & Carlson Medalist stock and bottom metal from High Desert Rifle Works. I did the same to my T3 once I saw what a great shooter it was. With that work it's even better, hunts better. Not that it matters but it looks better as well. There are more expensive stocks, but this one worked out really well, mated up with the bottom metal nicely.

If we're counting deer and hogs or smaller: 6.5x55 Swedish
If we're counting animals bigger than deer: 35 Whelen

My pick is the classy ole’ 270 Win

Lou

There’s not one.

Tools come in different sizes to fit the job/task. Like ball peen through sledge.

Go to caliber? 22 short through whatever the prey is.

It’s pretty safe to say that there’s a very broad range of calibers that will kill well enough on demand in the right hands. Shot placement and bullet selection being two big factors.


I generally favor my .280 Remington. But I don’t hand load and ammo isn’t much of an off the shelf option.
So that would push me to say that me personally I would say. 270 and if larger Texas animals are on the list I’d favor a premium constructed round.

The 30/06 is just very hard to look past too. Factory ammo from 125 to 220 grain and even reduced recoil rounds can be bought still I believe.

If we were talking only light skinned game.
25/06 all damn day.

.3030 or .35 rem is all I need for an axis.

Model 70 Winchester (1968) in 270!

My 1st rifle was a gift from my grandfather as a wedding present, a SAKO 243. I learned to shoot and reload with it. Yes I didn't hit or harvest everything I shot at, despite the hours and coaching received by spent at the old Dallas Police range across the street from the the New Wife & I's 1's first apartment on Greenbriar. I learned how to reload on my dining room table. My first hunt with the 243 I shot a sneaky quail eating bugs 50-60 feet in front of me in the LLano river bottom ...and got whopped " generously" by grandad's heavy walking cane for spooking his shot on a turkey eating his way into grandpop's target area of half a bag of fresh corn. He scored on the turkey the next day....while I held my empty rifle and watched thru the scope, and pulled the trigger on an empty chamber when I understood it was the "right time" milliseconds before grandpop's rifle spoke.

Yes I used that 243 for umm 7-8 years and only traded it off for a more appropriate White Tail rifle like the 270 a new mentor at John Chambers Gun Shop used and ate deer meat regularly....and several other TPW approved game critters and wasps' and at the new Shooting Range a little west of Harry Hines in north Dallas.

I cannot estimate how many "DEER Rifles" I 've owned, in a dozen Plus Calibers but keep coming back to the 270 and never have had a failure in harvesting game if I do my part in bullet placement at a reasonable rang. Just hope to have some 270 ammo in my pocket when I'm gone.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph is my daily morning paper, even though I live in Palestine. Last Sunday's ETX OUTDOORS section had a very interesting article that has rattled around my brain all week and it's pro;s & cons, Titled The Good, The Bad, written by Steve Knight

The Bad concerning the TPW's use of Eminent Domain to resolve the pro's & con's concerning the control of Fairfield Park. The accompanying colored photo of a dramatic shot of the setting sun accompanied the article, along with a comment that "The Sun may NOT be setting on Fairfield State Park and public access ...after the TPW Dept's evoking eminent domain to halt it's sale to a private developer.

Please read...I can't find the Email Address for a complete article that was printed in the paper, that I saw but will post it if I can find it. So.....

What Say Ya'll about these issues.
Ron

I love many of the caibers mentioned in this thread, and many of them would serve as a great caliber to take most big game found in Texas. After some serious consideration, I think the majority of Texans target Whitetail and hogs, with some also getting the opportunity at exotics, like Aoudad, Axis, Fallow, Sika, and Blackbuck. Some also are blessed with the opportunity to take Mule Deer and Pronghorn, while an even smaller handful will get the chance to take larger exotics like Nilgai, Red Stag, and Elk. Since some of the terrain these species live in is vast an open, I believe a flat shooting caliber that retains a significant amount of energy out to several hundred yards is necessary. While a magnum caliber like the .300 Win, .338. Win, 7mm Rem, etc. would certainly kill any of the above animals, recoil can become problematic for the average hunter, so while fully capable I axed the magnum calibers, and decided to concentrate on standard calibers with good commercially available ammunition, especially since many hunters don't handload. The smaller bore calibers like .243 Win/6mm, .25 calibers, and 6.5mm are excluded in favor of calibers with larger frontal diameters capable of shooting heavier bullets. This narrows the field to 7mm-08, .308 Win, .270 Win, .280 Rem, and .30-06. Commercially available. 280 Rem ammo is sparse, so the. 280 Rem is axed, leaving 4 calibers. For full disclosure, I am a .270 fan, and use it almost exclusively for deer and hog hunting in Texas. After much consideration, I come down to the .30-06 as the best single caliber for medium/big game in Texas. It has the ability to shoot 150-165 grain bullets for medium sized game and 180-200 grain bullets for the larger species like Nilgai and Elk. I know there have been many valid opinions, and all are not wrong. I passed over my favorite caliber in favor of the .30-06, which I think has more going for it than the other calibers I considered, and I think its recoil is at the upper end of what most average hunters can comfortably tolerate without developing a bad flinch (understanding that rifle weight, stock design, recoil pads, muzzle breaks and suppressors can all affect felt recoil).

bigfootwolff, I think your comments are excellent. I say that knowing that many on here may disagree. I think the 5 you narrowed it down to are worthy and the ones that didnt make your cut I basically agree with you and your reasoning. I do shoot only a 3006 but the other 4 would be fine. Im about to go to a 708AI as my backup gun. Thanks for your comments. Only 6 posts, where have you been?

Thanks for the affirmation Freerange, I kicked around the idea of some of including some additional cartridges like the .280 AI and 7mm PRC, but the availability of factory ammunition in those calibers nixed them from my short list.

I joined THF about 13 years ago, at the same time I joined Texas Bowhunter, and I'm not even a bowhunter. I really enjoyed TBH, and found myself rarely getting on THF over the years, thus the lack of posts. TBH recently underwent some site changes, and and was actually offline for 4-5 days. I needed my hunting forum fix, and gravitated to THF and have found that I really like THF, and definitely like it over the new TBH site, which at times is painfully slow. Happy to be here and I want to wish you good luck on your 7mm-08 AI acquisition!

6mm. 243 or 6cm

bigfoot, from your few posts, you seem like a good contributor to our forum. I think you will like it.

My 1st CF rifle was a SAKO 243, that I had received as a wedding present from my grandfather and learned to shoot it with no supervision or training except for advice from strangers at the range or from the guys who hung out at Smitty's in oak cliff, or John Chambers gun shop across the street from from Love Field, and handloaded it's ammo using a Lee Loader on my dining room table in our 1st Apartments, at the Dallas Shooting range west of Harry Hines as each target bay was completed, gotta be 50+ going on 60 years ago or so. I'll turn 78 in early September.

I am still shopping & buying/trading for rifles and shotguns whenever available if they are different or I am frustrated from what I've been using .... just never got the bigtime bug for lot's of handguns though, just enough to feel competent enough to not too scared & worry about the bad things that go on in some places we've lived or worked.

I was in Archie Van Wey's shop in Buffalo TX all afternoon yesterday trading and shopping for a couple shooters ....and Archie now has a couple of my shooters that Including I was never going to hunt in rough country with was not satisfied with the effort necessary in keeping the Tikka Swede in it's pristine condition. I learned how easy it was to permanently damaged several lesser rifles to the point I was almost ashamed of some the rifles conditions after some the more successful Hunts, and will being switched most, if not all of my rifles and shotguns into Composite Stocks.

But the
Tikka 6.5x55 and a few others too would have required way to much $'s & time to change all of my shooters all at the same time into composite stocks, and even the wife had gotten under my skin with more and more frequency too about the damage she saw occasionallyand is agreeable with my shopping for something new or buy or for a perceived fill in a hole the gun case.

That very 1st SAKO 243 satisfied my needs for 10-15 years, but as I widened my hunting areas and gained more and Lease Partners I realized there were some things I could do to expand my success or prevent coming home empty handed, while watching Lease Partners having successful Hunts, and began to buy new to me more powerful rifles. Right now I'm chasing deals on a 7 Rem Mag & or another 300 WinMag to use in far west Texas.

My best mid power shot on game was when I won a Hunt from Weaver scopes in Wyoming and I scored leaning against the guides truck on a Pronghorn at plus 300 yards that was escaping PDQ and I scored on an off hand shot with a Ruger 77 25-06 I'd bought years earlier in Florida to shoot crows with that were devastating Citrus Tree crops, and the Grove owner paid us 25 cents a dead bird too.

Yes I am also a dedicated 270 shooter, and will never be without one, but have used too many different calibers & rifle brands to bother talking about them. Yes I did Rep for Stoeger Industries, the US Importer repping SAKO in 6 STATES for 7+ years and trust the Brand implicently, even if Beretta is now is the source for most of the product, & can't say the same about Tikka ONLY for lack of CURRENT information. Tikka was always built at another facility back in my pre Stoeger Days ,with SAKO parts for the most part.
Ron